Empowering villagers for life

THE Pacific Centre for Peacebuilding (PCP) has started working with villagers in the hope of empowering them to deal better with challenges of life.

Villagers of Nasarawaqa in Bua and Nabiti in Macuata have been taught how to better deal with such issues through dialogue.

PCP north supervisor Sindhu Prasad said the workshops had been a success as participants openly discuss their challenges. "In this way, the teams are able to discuss and share ideas about the best ways of resolving it in a peaceful manner," she said.

"That is very important and the participants have realised the importance of having peace at all times when resolving issues so we can all come to an agreement and still be happy about the outcome."

Workshop facilitator Ana Uluilakeba said an issue highlighted in one of the workshops was teenage pregnancies.

"Some women shared how teenage pregnancy is now becoming common in their villages and they are trying to deal with this issue," she said.

"So at the training, we discussed how they can best deal with it like talking to parents and the girls in the villages, including students and how it is important to complete their studies.

"These are some issues highlighted and after the training, participants became aware of the importance of dealing with issues peacefully."